What Happened To The Smart Policy OrientedMayor That Houston Allegedly Elected?

Sylvester Turner, when elected Mayor of Houston narrowly in 2015, ran as a smart policy candidate whose long record of elected office enabled him to see through all the BS.

To his partial credit, he was able to pass a flawed, but improved, pension reform plan. Note TCR felt it was not a long-term solution and is already proving to be such. The next crisis is just around the corner.

Since then the scandals and incompetence have piled up, let's review the highlights:

Failure to work out a deal with the firefighters begot Prop B equalizing pay for firemen and police putting the City budget further in the red.

The pothole program has made no difference as our streets and sidewalks deteriorate due to longtime neglect.

The misrepresentation of an alleged hiring freeze in response to losing Prop B has resulted in as of the other day, 871 new workers since the hiring freeze!

Turner has personally approved over $400 million in new city contracts without city council vote (up to $50,000 maximum) during a budget squeeze.

Theft crimes in the city are exploding with significant lower clearance rates.

The Mayor pushed through City Council a $6.735 million contract to his former law partner, Barry Barnes, operating under the entity Limited Legal Service, not to handle legal matters, but for "outreach, intake and case management services" related to "potential" applicants for the Federal Housing Disaster money.

You probably were thinking, why does Houston really need $6.735 million of legal services, which is basically an outreach program to help identify people and assist them to file grant application forms? What happened to volunteers, an online program, and public service announcements? By the way, this will do nothing to reduce future flooding.

The City of Houston is on the wrong track and desperately needs new leadership starting at the top.

Muslim Radicals Kill 321 ChristiansIn Sri Lanka's Terror Attacks

There, we said it. For some reason the mainstream media goes out of its way to cover up the faith of the victims.

Why? When a Mosque was attacked in New Zealand they were not reluctant to talk about the Muslim victims.

Friend Gary Bauer at Campaign for Working Families asks some questions no one else is asking related to our safety here in the U.S.:

"More than 40 Sri Lankan citizens have fought for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Some are known to have returned. And this begs the question: What should be done with the thousands of foreign ISIS fighters who remain in Iraq and Syria?"

"Nations all over the world, including the U.S. and Great Britain, are wrestling with this question, even as they struggle to comprehend why so many are attracted to such barbarism in the first place. (In Wisconsin yesterday, Waheba Issa Dais and Yosvany Padilla-Conde pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS.)

"This shouldn't be a tough issue. Don't let these traitors back in!"

Supreme Court To DecideCan Census Ask Citizenship Question

Throughout most of our history we have asked about citizenship. This year leftists sued, as they do on about any initiative of the Trump administration.

Those fearing an undercount if the question is not waived are afraid illegals will not respond to the census, resulting in less Democrats in Congress.

The American people, by a 66% to 23% margin, support having the citizenship question on the census forms. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will rule correctly.

Elimination of "unacceptable" speech on college campuses, in other words - end of free speech

And finally,

Impeach Donald Trump for the true reason, he had the gall to beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

I Was Thinking

I was thinking - Since 11 million people have Obamacare, how will 24 million people die if it is repealed? Will an additional 13 million people be randomly shot? I always wondered about this!

I was thinking - if Donald Trump deleted all of his emails, wiped his server with BleachBit and destroyed all of his phones with a hammer, would the Mainstream Media suddenly lose all interest in the story and declare him innocent?

I was thinking - If women do the same job for less money, why do companies hire men to do the same job for more money?

I was thinking - If you rob a bank in a Sanctuary City, is it illegal or is it just an Undocumented Withdrawal?

I was thinking - Each ISIS attack now is a reaction to Trump policies - but all ISIS attacks during Obama's term were due to Climate Change and a plea for jobs.

I was thinking - After the London 'Lone Wolf' terrorist attack, government officials arrested at least eight other 'Lone Wolves' who had conspired with the original 'Lone Wolf' in planning the 'Lone Wolf' attack. Why do they tell us, even though all involved are Muslim, you can be assured, the 'Lone Wolf' attack has nothing to do with Islam, just like the other 1,000 plus 'Lone Wolf' attacks by Muslims, are completely unassociated with Islam.

I was thinking - We should stop calling them all "Entitlements." Welfare, Food Stamps, WIC, ad nauseam, are not entitlements. They are taxpayer-funded handouts, and shouldn't be called entitlements at all. Social Security and Veterans Benefits are Entitlements because the people receiving them are entitled to them. They were earned and paid for by the recipients.

I was thinking - If Muslims want to run away from a Muslim country, does that mean they're Islamophobic?

I was thinking - If Liberals don't believe in biological gender then why did they march for women's rights?

I was thinking - How did the Russians get Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC to steal the Primary from Bernie Sanders? How did Russia get Donna Brazile to leak debate questions to Hillary Clinton in advance of the debate?

I was thinking - Why is it that Democrats think Super delegates are fine, but they have a problem with the Electoral College?

I was thinking - If you don't want the FBI involved in elections, don't nominate someone who's being investigated by the FBI.

I was thinking - If Hillary's speeches cost $250,000 an hour, how come no one shows up to her free ones?

I was thinking - The DNC is mad at Russia because they think they are trying to manipulate our election by exposing that the DNC is manipulating our election.

I was thinking - If Democrats don't want foreigners involved in our elections, why do they think it's all right for illegals to vote?

Just Thinking - Somebody better start thinking.

TCR Comment: This was sent to me by a friend, pretty good.

The Democrats' Platform as of TodayBy Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

It has been a little over three months since the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives and the members of the party started declaring one-by-one-by-one that they want to replace Donald J. Trump as president. There has now been an adequate amount of time to look at what they propose as policies.

Not every candidate supports each one of these positions and/or they may support them in varying degrees, but it is fair to say that these policies are "mainstream" in their political thought. Not one Democrat has so far stood up and disavowed these positions as way beyond the pale. Also, there are other policies, but these are sucking up all the oxygen.

Here we go:

1. Adding Justices to the Supreme Court - The most popular politician of the modern era, Franklin D. Roosevelt -- the only man elected president more than twice and by wide margins with strong majorities in the House and the Senate -- tried this and failed. Yet for some unknown reason this group wants to replicate what was judged as FDR's worst mistake - packing the Supreme Court.

2. Reparations - Slavery in America was abhorrent and tens of thousands gave their lives to overturn this in our Civil War. There were about 31 million people in America in 1865. About 9 million people lived in the Confederacy. It is estimated 32% or 2.9 million owned slaves. Yet, many of the candidates are talking about paying current-day blacks from the tax dollars of Americans today. And it is being spoken of more seriously as the campaign moves forward. The vast majority of Americans were not here nor were their ancestors in 1865. No one has stated how this will change the lives of recipients other than another handout nor are they being asked. This is just a bizarre idea that should never happen.

3. Electoral College - There is discussion about getting rid of this. Those who argue for this do not understand that we are a Republic and the Electoral College is an elemental aspect of what makes America, America. More importantly, this must be passed by two-thirds of the House and Senate and signed by the president and then passed by 38 states. Let me give a short answer as to why this will never happen -- NV, MO, ND, SD, ID, KS, AR, MS, AL, AZ, AK, ME, IA, NE, UT, LA, WY, NH, VA, RI, HI, NC, SC, KY, TN, CT, WV, IN and possibly more. A couple of these like Hawaii and Rhode Island might be willing to give control of the country to the ten largest states, but this will NEVER happen. End of discussion. The most populace eleven states have 50% of the electors today. The candidates will barely visit the other 39 states.

4. 70% tax rate - Those who are espousing this are plainly ignorant of the times when we had tax rates that high. NO ONE -- and that means No One -- paid these rates. Just ask anyone who was preparing tax returns before the 1986 tax act. That bipartisan bill got rid of any need for tax avoidance schemes allowing people to make investments based on the strength of the underlying investment and lowered the rates to encourage people to pay their taxes. This brought us unbridled growth only temporarily sidelined by a minor recession in 1991 for 15 years. Another royally ignorant suggestion by unknowledgeable people for the sole purpose of attacking success.

5. Free College - I recently wrote an entire column about this. As I said, if you think college is expensive now, wait until it is "free."

6. Lowering the voting age to 16 - This one is a sterling example of how misguided some people can be. While states are moving to make it tougher for people under 18 years old to drive or smoke or vape because they are thought to not be prepared, they all of a sudden are qualified to vote. This idea has to come from people who don't have children.

7. Elizabeth Warren's Wealth Tax - Though this is primarily proposed by Senator Warren, others are joining in because the idea of taking money from successful people and putting it in the hands of the government apparatchiks is the heart and soul of their existence. This one is clearly unconstitutional, not to mention bad public policy. If you work hard, save your money and properly invest it to help make businesses profitable and hire more Americans, then Warren wants your dough. How stupid can one idea be?

8. The Green New Deal - Already covered this in a recent column of mine. The only idea of serious note in my column is the development of nuclear energy. However, the same group that thinks the ideas in the Green New Deal make sense were the ones who argued against nuclear energy and stopped further development which would have already seriously limited the greenhouse gas they abhor. Yet most Democrats running for president refuse to say the proposal is ridiculous. Then again you may want a windmill attached to your house.

9. Late-Term Abortions - This issue exploded on the scene when the governor of Virginia appeared to endorse infanticide. The party of science (that is what the Dems believe they are) denies modern science when it comes to abortions and the viability of unborn babies in the third trimester. Yet the candidates and the party-elected officials think differently. That goes against what the rest of Americans and many pro-choice Americans think. (Column to follow).

10. Medicare for All - This is a doozy. There is no evidence of adequate medical care in countries that have adopted this policy -- dressed up as single-payer (government controlled) health care. In fact, we have evidence in our own country of single-payer being disastrous - the VA. Or let's talk about government provided health care on Indian reservations. (Two columns to follow on this).

11. Open Borders - They don't use that terminology, but they are doing nothing to stop illegal aliens from flowing into the country. They don't support e-verify, visa control or border walls. They think flying drones at the border will stop illegals from coming across when they know once here the illegals are probably here forever even if they commit a crime. The Dems mouth being in favor of border controls, but do virtually nothing to support that. And the sanctuary city adoption plan is not working because they are already flush with homeless people.

12. Illegals Paying into Social Security - This is an argument made by Senator Gillibrand that illegals should be able to pay into our social security. She argues if you are an immigrant you should be able to do that. If you are here legally and working legally you already do pay into social security so she could only be referring to illegals. They currently pay in if they have stolen someone's social security number. She could only be suggesting we make illegals legal by having them pay payroll taxes and receive more benefits going forward. No one else has jumped on this bandwagon, but no one argues against it. It fits in with their general attitudes toward illegals. Like always with this there is no differentiation between legal and illegal immigrants.

These are just 12 ideas the Democrats are working on to better our lives. This is only in their first three months with 18 months until our next presidential election. If you think this is coherent public policy, then I suggest you support the Democrats. If you think like I do that this could be the worst set of public policies in American history, then you should make sure these people are removed from public office next November and never have any power again.

You still have that choice ... unless these people win.

Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee. You can follow Bruce on Twitter @brucebialosky.

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About Your Editor

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twenty-first year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last eighteen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 16 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 17th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on Houston Public Media TV 8 PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of American Values, a national pro-family, pro-faith, conservative organization supporting the unity of the American people around the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated to reminding the public of the conservative principles fundamental to the survival of our nation. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.